


Interlude

by Anticipatio



Series: He's My Collar [7]
Category: Campaign (Podcast), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, Embarrassment, Enemies to Friends, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Kink Negotiation, M/M, Only Briefly - Freeform, Teasing, The Dark Side of the Force, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 01:52:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14154105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anticipatio/pseuds/Anticipatio
Summary: When Aava walked into the atrium in the middle of the night cycle to find Blue agonizing over what appeared to be a kink checklist, she knew that she had to intervene.





	Interlude

The formality of a checklist was appreciated, but the contents didn’t do much to reassure Blue. He thought he was Hip™ on weird kink stuff now that he was engaging in such acts with Zero, but the helpful little informational pop-ups were sending him into a rabbit hole he didn’t know existed. “Medical…” he whispered to himself, grimacing. He tapped on the little question mark and stared at the definition:

_Fetishism involving medical scenarios (e.g. routine medical procedures, physical examinations, surgeries, etc.), medical equipment (e.g. speculum, dental equipment, medical restraints, etc.) and/or medical attire (e.g. medical coats, scrubs, patient gowns, etc.). May include role-playing in medical contexts._

“Not my thing, personally,” a voice behind him chimed in. He threw the datapad across the caf bar and yelped, face lighting up red. Blue came face-to-face with Aava as he twisted to see his intruder. “What?” she smirked, “It’s a shared area.” She held up a small tub of ice cream (one of the _horrible_ meat flavors that Blue tried to keep as far from his as possible) as if to demonstrate the point.

He checked the chrono on his glasses and squawked, “It’s two in the morning, why are you even awake?”

“Why are you?” she lilted knowingly, sitting at his side and prying the lid of her treat.

Blue harrumphed and glanced at the abandoned list out of the corner of his eye, “That’s irrelevant; you know that I don’t like to sleep. I happen to know that you _do,_ witch.”

There was a brief look that crossed her face in that moment. It was something profoundly sad and malevolent, stormy like the rich forests that went untouched on Dathomir. He felt a cold, artificial dread trickle down his spine and his breath hitched, face paling. Aava glanced at him and the look turned to one of concern. The feeling passed as a wry smile crossed her face, “Sorry. It’s complicated.”

He visibly shook off the remnants of impending doom from his mind. “R-right.” Blue cupped his hands over the ceramic of a half-drunk mug of caf, looking away awkwardly and fiddling with the handle. Silence was a powerful tool in a wartime politician’s arsenal, but the awkward air that overtook them was absolutely stifling. With another smile, Aava continued, “Medical stuff gets a little weird if you’re not one-hundred percent on the details. It’s a lot of work.”

Suffocating silence was preferable over whatever was happening in the moment. “What are you—”

“I could give you my two cents on kink stuff, so you can make more informed decisions, or I can leave to wallow in my room with ice cream alone. Your call.”

He glanced at the pad again and slowly pulled it back in front of him, staring at the night sister suspiciously the entire movement. She took a bite of ice cream, unphased, and set the caf machine for another cup. “Why,” he questioned, eyes narrow, “Would you want to help me?”

Aava considered this, staring intently at the chunks of jerky sprinkled into the pinkish cream. Her head tilted, and she demurely traced the edge of the carton, uncharacteristically hesitant, “There’s some stuff I’d rather not think about right now.” She turned her gaze towards the human more seriously, “And I may not like you as a person—”

He snorted.

“— _but_ I think you, as a sentient being, have a right to safe, positive sexual experiences.” He gave her a bit of disbelieving side-eye and she sighed, “And Zero is my friend and I want him to be happy, ergo…” She trailed off, gesturing vaguely between them.

Blue began to protest, “You are presuming that Zero, my _employee,_ and I—” A notification pinging on the datapad interrupted him.

 **ZER0degrees** : u ok big guy?  
**ZER0degrees** : thought i heard smthing  
**ZER0degrees** : do i gotta defend ur honor at this forceforsaken hour?  
**Bluebear** : No, everything’s fine.

His blush returned.

> **Bluebear** has been renamed **Blue** by user.  
**ZER0degrees** : lol  
**ZER0degrees** : was wondering when u’d notice  
**Blue** : GOODNIGHT.  
**ZER0degrees** : <3 lmao

Aava chuckled over her steaming mug of caf and received an exasperated glare. “Fine,” he snapped, “You’re partially responsible, anyway.” She rolled her eyes, but Blue let it slide as he scrolled up to the first point he left unchecked since starting.

 _ **Somnophilia** _ (?) _– Yes / Maybe / No_

The tips of his ears were still colored, and he dutifully avoided eye contact. “What’s your concern?” Aava asked, carefully policing her tone, “Did you read the definition?”

“Uh,” Blue answered dumbly, blinking down at the aurebesh like he forgot how to read. “I mean… It seems like it’d be very one-sided. Given our schedules.” He waved a hand vaguely, roughly indicating the dark, quiet ship.

After another bite of ice cream, the zabrak nodded sagely and conceded, “I can see why that could turn into an issue.” Another sip of caf, and she continued, “For now, though, the list is just to get you thinking. Finer details come later, like whether you want to receive or give. Or both, under the right circumstances. What if you sleep in one day?”

The uncertainty in Blue’s expression became less pronounced as he mulled it over. He was still radiating embarrassment, but he checked off “maybe” a little more surely than he felt before. The rest of the list was extensive, and he quickly scrolled through to avoid looking at what he’d already marked (yes on choking, yes on masochism, maybe on impact play…) with Aava over his shoulder.

 _ **Blaster Play** _ (?) _– Yes / Maybe / No_

“This is humiliating. You’re humiliating me,” Blue groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Aava looked to him with a cross of pity and amusement and pat his shoulder soothingly, “We can stop whenever you want and never mention this again, but sex is natural and I’m not judging you.”

He braced himself, took a deep gulp of lukewarm caf, and looked back to the pad, “Alright, okay. Sure.” His fingers danced on the countertop uncertainly as he gathered his scattered thoughts. “I guess I can’t… visualize? This one.”

“Do you think he’s hot when he’s using his blasters?”

The reply was automatic, “Of course.”

“So, think of it this way,” Aava started, gesticulating as if moving an invisible object from one place to another on the surface of the bar, “What if he has them while you’re intimate?” There was a shameful pause as Blue’s cheeks darkened. “And what if he touches you in some way with the blasters?”

His hand hovered over the list and marked “yes”.

\---

Zero must have slept through Blue’s morning announcement. He usually slept _past_ it while they were in transit, but he would hear it, send a quick complaint over the group chat, and then proceed to go back to sleep until breakfast. Or lunch. Depending on the day.

He probably slept through the announcement, but it was still a good hour before everyone gathered at the mess for breakfast, anyway. He stretched and went through the ritual of putting his helmet on, crawling out of bed to put an arm on, and then slogging through the cockpit like a zombie to check system functions.

Chattering from the atrium didn’t register until he was halfway through scanning Blue’s schedule. Talking in the common room was not particularly noteworthy, but the only voices he could hear were Aava’s and Blue’s. Their relationship was tenuous at best, and Zero was momentarily afraid of what he would walk into once he exited the room.

The door quietly whooshed open, and two individuals sat at the bar with their backs to him. “—what even counts as a collar, then?” Blue was asking, ice cream sandwich in hand and surrounded by caf mugs and wrappers but otherwise unusually calm for the sheer amount of sugar and caffeine that was no doubt poisoning his liver as he spoke.

“It’s symbolic, usually,” Aava replied, also surrounded by caf mugs with a few ice cream cartons scattered around and spoon in hand. “You could make it something subtle like a little lock or a heart for when you’re out in public but have a literal collar for the evening.”

They both paused to take bites of their remaining ice cream and Blue tapped thoughtfully at a datapad that Zero did not notice until that moment. The document on the screen looked familiar. [His brain went through an unusual series of mental gymnastics](https://i.imgur.com/4sVcN0H.png) before he froze completely and murmured, “What the hell.”

Blue bristled, and both turned to look at Zero with conflicting expressions. “Hey,” Aava said, casual and friendly, while Blue simultaneously whispered a mortified, “Oh.”

“What the hell,” Zero repeated. “You hate each other.”

“‘Hate’ is a strong word—” Blue started to reply. Aava cut in, “Not wrong, but he was really overthinking the list and needed some guidance.” She shrugged, nonchalant, “It was kind of sad to see—”

“Hey!”

“—so I thought I could lend a hand.” She stole a glance at the nearly complete checklist and added, “You’re involved too, so I don’t want your boyfriend to kriff it up too bad.” Blue snatched the datapad and huddled it close to his chest defensively, glaring at the night sister and defensively adding, “I like to gather as much information as possible, and the opportunity presented itself!” He stood up abruptly, slipping his cane under his arm, and huffed, “And now that I have enough information, I think we’re done here,” before making a hobbling retreat to his room.

They watched him turn tail and Zero whispered, “I don’t know what’s happening.” Aava looked to him with an amused expression and assured him, “You’ll find out tonight.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hooray! Winter quarter's over! I get a break!
> 
> For a week!
> 
> I have to go back to university in a few days! Despite being on break for all of a week! I love it!
> 
> HC shit: I didn't make this super obvious because it's kind of silly and not really important, but Blue is lactose intolerant and eating milk-free ice cream bars. Why? Because I, too, am a horrible gremlin who likes Things and Money and I also happen to be lactose intolerant. I get my caffeine from tea, though, so the similarities really end there. 
> 
> I also hope everyone enjoys the little drawing ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> I wanted to thank everyone who's commented or left kudos, I really appreciate it! I've been writing these to relax but also to contribute to a fandom for a piece of work that I genuinely feel is totally underrated, so the fact that anyone is enjoying what I put out is really rewarding. As for why I fixate on Blue and Zero: no idea! Probably because I relate to some parts of both of them, but also because I feel like that's a weird thing since Blue is a megalomaniac and Zero is a paid assassin. I think it's more that I really love how Jim and Tyler characterize these two. Not that I don't love any of the other characters; despite writing these boys so much, I think that Lyn is probably my favorite character (anthropologist who loves the ladies and the only mildly responsible member of the crew? Yes please!). I just really got used to writing the members of the Bluebird.
> 
> So that's my little rant for the eve! If anyone read this, lol, I just stole some of your time nerd. Can't get _that_ back.


End file.
